Something to inspire!
Situation: You handle sales and marketing for a commodity product that’s been around for hundreds of years, defies attempts to differentiate it, is bashed by the medical establishment, and is suffering from declining sales.
Question: Given the choice, would you look for a job in another industry, or attempt to turn things around?
If you’re Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission, you turn things around.
Voigt chose to change public attitudes by going on an all-potato diet for 60 days in 2010, and promoting it via social media. The video shows what he did, and what he accomplished.
<p>60 Day Potato-Only Diet from Washington St. Potato Commission on Vimeo.</p>
Results
- A Yr/Yr survey showed the percentage of people who believed potatoes are bad for your health declined from 24% in 2010 to 18% in 2011.
- For the grand sum of $366.90 Voigt established two websites, and let viral marketers take care of the rest. This is less than 0.1% of the Washington State Potato Commission’s annual marketing budget.
Do you have a potato in your hands? Hot or otherwise? Then take a lesson from Chris Voigt. As Trout and Ries have advised for 40 years, no product is a commodity unless you treat it like one.
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